I know President Trump promised that America would be saying “Merry Christmas” more once he took office, but there’s still plenty of proof that the Christmas culture wars are alive and well.

In 2015, then-presidential candidate Trump stoked the fires of Christmas debate, calling on a boycott of Starbucks because the coffee chain’s cups seemed to be moving away from any references to Christmas – an annual tradition and progression, some would say.

In 2018, the fires of Christmas wars have been cranked up and brought progressive attacks to new societal lows: by the suppression of Christmas classics and the most endeared Christmas traditions.

For example, Christmas songs that have played countless times each year during December are now being removed from airplay.

Case in point, the Christmas classic, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” which is about the cute and fun romantic reservations and excuses of a man who doesn’t want to leave his love’s apartment on a cold wintry night.

So, what’s wrong with this vintage 1944 classic tune to progressives? The Wall Street Journal explained this week that: “Some radio stations refuse to play the Christmas classic over concerns its lyrics evoke [sexual assault], date rape and coercion.”

“People used to say ‘what’s in this drink’ as a joke,” said Susan Loesser, the daughter of songwriter Frank Loesser, in an interview this year “You know, this drink is going straight to my head so what’s in this drink? Back then it didn’t mean you drugged me,” the Washington Post reported.

If you think that’s excessive, consider what is happening with the 1964 television classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” which has been aired to children’s and their parent’s delight every year on television for decades.

Most will recall the theme that Rudolph is initially frowned upon for his red-nose distinction until all the other reindeer realize his difference is actually a strength for Santa, them and the whole world. It’s a great moral and leadership lesson in esteeming the worth and value of others that are different than you. But not to everyone in our politically correct world.

The Washington Post reported that the liberal Huffington Post posted a video to their social media about the television classic, calling it “seriously problematic.”

For example, the video explains that Rudolph’s father “verbally abuses him.” In addition, the father of Rudolph’s love interest is called a “bigot” for forbidding his daughter from being seen with the red-nosed reindeer.

Is the HuffPost kidding? No, and neither are those who back it.

Fox News Insider reported on another Christmas bias out there: “The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), which operates the District’s METRO system, is being sued by the Catholic Church after turning down an advertisement: an illustrative ad depicting the phrase ‘Find the perfect gift’ under what appears to be the Star of Bethlehem and a group of shepherds.”

And of course the Christmas culture wars are escalating across state-sponsored schools. For example, universities across the nation are encouraging – or requiring – their students to make any and all holiday celebrations secular and “inclusive.”

Fox News Insider again explained: “Campus Reform reportedthat the University of California-Irvine encouraged individual departments to ‘focus on celebrating a special occasion, instead of a specific holiday,’ suggesting a ‘year-end celebration’ or celebrating ‘seasonal themes such as fall, winter, or spring.’ The guidelines actually read: “Ensure that office celebrations are not indirectly celebrating religious holidays. Display diverse symbols representing a variety of faith traditions along with secular ones.”

And just when you think you’ve heard it all, check this one out. Progressive yuletide tactics are dropping so low that they even prompted the principal of the Omaha-area Manchester Elementary School to ban Christmas candy canes because the “shape is a ‘J’ for Jesus”!

In a memo sent to all teachers and staff, Principal Jennifer Sinclair took her ban even further by outlawing the following list of Christmas items and practices as “not acceptable” in her school:

Yet, some still say Christmas culture wars are all fictitious and made up by the religious right.

Is there really a war on Christmas?

Secular progressives say emphatically, “No!” But historians and other cultural experts say anyone who denies Christmas wars are sticking their heads in the sands of societal ignorance.

Dr. Johann N. Neem, a senior fellow (or senior lecturer) at the University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and a professor of history at Western Washington University, answered, “Certainly, court decisions have made it more challenging for public institutions, especially schools, to celebrate Christmas. At my children’s school, carols tend to modern, secular songs, denying children access to some of the most beautiful historical carols because they refer to Christian themes and Jesus’ birth. Stores post “Happy Holidays” signs, and one sometimes pauses when saying ‘merry Christmas’ to people passing. …”

Dr. Neem grew up in San Francisco, a location not exactly known for being a conservative Christian bastion. Nevertheless, here’s how Dr. Neem described the religious nature of one of the most liberal cities in the U.S. when he was growing up:

Growing up as an immigrant in the San Francisco Bay area, I was surrounded by Christmas lights, Christmas carols, Christmas parties and Christmas gifts. I was also surrounded by Protestants, Catholics, Hindus, Jews, Muslims and people from many other faiths or none at all. And we loved Christmas. And we wished each other the merriest of Christmases. It was wonderful. We didn’t all celebrate Christmas. Some families, because of their faith, chose not to. But the magic of American Christmas was that its message was told both through the story of a particular baby born one silent night, and also was one that offered a shared and universal spirit of charity, forgiveness and love. No one thought you had to attend midnight Mass to share in our Christmas spirit.

And as far as the rest of the nation, Dr. Neem concluded: “We can’t deny that for much of our history, most Americans have considered theirs to be a Christian society. Christianity provided Americans a shared moral and cultural background. To pretend otherwise is ahistorical.”

If you wish to learn more about the religious roots of our nation, I highly recommend you become familiar with and tap the resources from Wallbuilders. I commend historian David Barton (and his wife Cheryl) for starting this much-needed historical resource center and storehouse to preserve America’s Christian heritage. My wife, Gena, and I congratulate them on Wallbuilder’s 30th anniversary, and its three decades of rightly defending Christian truths and roots in U.S. history. We’ve personally benefitted so much from Wallbuilders, and so have my WND culture warrior column’s readers for over a decade!

Unfortunately, the left has been successful in wrongly convincing a majority of Americans that our First Amendment rights of religious liberty and speech infer you can’t express them in the public square. Nothing could be further from the truth. The First Amendment secures your unlimited expression and clamps down on overlords that would try to restrict or prohibit your exercise thereof.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Our founders’ passion in creating the first amendment reflects what George Washington once said, “If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”

Benjamin Franklin’s sentiment similarly echoed the passion of all our Constitution’s framers: “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.”

Our founders cry out from their graves for us to remember what they established – a nation free from tyranny and oppression, and endless in individual liberties. It’s also why a free press like WND is so greatly needed, especially in an era of biased progressive mainstream media outlets. (Please make sure you read David Kupelian’s “Very Important Open Letter to WND Friends.”)

Thomas Jefferson was particularly passionate and eloquent about anyone or anything suppressing our freedoms with these words that are now indelibly inscribed on the memorial in Washington D.C. named after him. Whether regarding the prohibition of free speech or the dominance of religious sectarianism, his words apply: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility toward any tyranny over the mind of men.”

So have I. Have you?

My fellow Americans, when free speech and religious (Christmas) expression is restricted or punished even in the public square, we can be certain that we’ve drifted way too far from our roots. Isn’t it time we returned home to the Constitution? Don’t just fight for your freedom of expression – fight for others.